Tom Benn
Australia
Tom's Wines
- Australia
- 3 wines
- 3 styles
Real wine for real life - from one of Naked's own
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Tom’s wine journey began right here at Naked HQ. What started as a curiosity quickly turned into a full-blown obsession. And before long, he was dreaming up his own wine label – with one big twist…
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One Tuesday night, staring longingly at the wine rack, Tom sighed and thought “why does wine have to be so boozy?” That moment sparked an idea – Session – a new range of properly delicious wines at around 5% ABV, made to open midweek and feel great about.
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He’s not from a grand winemaking dynasty – he’s one of us. A genuine wine-lover with a bright idea and the determination to make it happen. With your support, Session is just the beginning, we can’t wait to see what Tom dreams up next.
Tom Benn's Story
I’ve always been obsessed with food and drink – I knew from early on that it was where I wanted to be. I dabbled in all sorts of startups – peanut butter, coconut water, chewing gum – but about 10 years ago, wine really hooked me.
I applied for a job at Naked Wines because it was where my late dad had bought his wine, so it seemed like as good a place as any to learn. I lucked out! I’ve loved every second at Naked.
But pretty quickly I started wondering: why does wine have to be so alcoholic? I loved it, but on a Tuesday night I’d look longingly at the rack and think, better not… I wanted wine with the sessionability of lager – something I could open just because.
That kicked off a five-year quest to craft lower-alcohol wines without compromising on flavour – it took me to South Africa, Burgundy, London, Bordeaux, London again, and eventually rural Australia. Along the way I met incredible people, learned a tonne, and went through hundreds of iterations – tweaking, refining, scrapping it all and starting over (about five times). You wouldn’t believe the number of kitchen samples that have exploded in my garden…
Just when I was about to give up, we cracked it.
